


348

by WritesMinelli



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Radio, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Family Dynamics, Fluff and Angst, Good Parent Eda Clawthorne, Good Siblings Edric & Emira Blight, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Post-Canon, Protective Siblings, Slow Burn, Trust Issues, Useless Lesbian Amity Blight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27590221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritesMinelli/pseuds/WritesMinelli
Summary: Luz Noceda finds herself waking up at 3:48am every night. Sometimes from nightmares, sometimes for seemingly no reason at all. In fear of being alone with her thoughts, she starts a radio broadcast in a hidden room at the owl house-sure that no one she knows would listen.Tags will be added as the story updatesFeat. My affinity for run-on sentencesNow with more Blight Sibling interactions !💎
Relationships: Amity Blight & Edric Blight & Emira Blight, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & King & Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Lilith Clawthorne, Eda Clawthorne & Luz Noceda, Edric Blight & Emira Blight, Hooty (The Owl House) & Everyone, Luz Noceda & Everybody
Comments: 28
Kudos: 186





	1. Chapter 1

There was a small space below the owl house. 

Luz reminisced on the night she had found it. And by "found it," she meant she had stepped onto a half rotten floorboard and nearly fallen through and broken her ankle. 

She had woken up with starry nightfall glittering through her windowsill. She had sighed, flopping back into her sleeping bag and instinctively reached for her phone. Feeling the soft plastic of her case's purple bat wings, she gave a gentle push on the side button, producing a bright glow across the screen as the device turned on. Groaning, Luz brought her arm over her eyes, allowing herself to adjust to being awake. Glancing over, she didn't have to read the screen to know what time it was; but she did so anyway.

3:48am.

Every single night, without fail, the young girl found herself waking at exactly 3:48am.

_ Must be the witching hour. _

Luz smiled at her own joke before rolling onto her side and throwing the sweaty sleeping bag over her head in hopes of getting back to the dream she was having about Eda force feeding her peanuts. Not the best dream she's had in her time on the Boiling Isles, but it was definitely not the worst. However, her attempt at slumber was thwarted. 

Just like it had been the night before, and the night before that, and the night before that, and so on.

_ Might as well stretch my legs. _

Grunting, Luz rolled her ankles, enjoying the pressure that built up at her toes before releasing and standing. The first step out of the sleeping bag and onto the cold, wooden floor always shocked the rest of the lingering drowsiness out of her system. 

Rounding the windowsill, Luz sat with her head against the glass pane. She loved watching the nighttime. Of course, in the Boiling Isles, she would never even entertain the thought of stepping outside into the darkness; she was content just to watch. Observing from the window, the Isles seemed to breathe. The trees drifted a certain way, and then another, along with the grass. The blooms in the flowers pulsated slowly, bringing bits of colors and petals in and out of sight rhythmically. So rhythmically that Luz found herself wondering if the Isles were in a constant state of singing, just too quiet and in a language that she couldn't hear. The brunette giggled childishly, her eyebrows raising as she gently lifted herself from the windowsill.

Luz pushed off from the sill, bringing a long, slender leg around in front of herself while staying pointed on her toes. Raising her arms towards the ceiling, she brought her other leg around as well, settling her right foot against her left kneecap and spinning on her toes in a way that she hoped resembled that of the ballerinas she had watched on tv. 

She enjoyed a half second of blissful spinning before losing balance and hitting her lower back against the jutted wood from the nook by the window. Luz laid on the floor there for a moment, not even realizing that she had fallen. When she came to the realization of how she had gotten on her back on the floor and staring at the ceiling, her tan face cracked into a smile. A smile that worked itself from her face down to her toes, sending warmth and bubbles through her nervous system, back up to her face where the bubbles pushed themselves out in the form of tinkling laughter. The sound of wonder reverberated off the attic walls back to Luz.

_ How strange. _

She had always been embarrassed of her laughter; finding it to be loud and jarring. It made people stare. She always buried her chuckles and snorts in her sleeves.

However, hearing it bounce off the walls of the owl and into her ears;

She couldn't get enough of the sound.

Bringing herself to her feet, the brunette felt energy that she had not experienced in years settle into her core. Luz copied her ballet twirl once again; this time making it to three spins before having to put both feet down. Halfway through her second spin she found herself singing. It was just a simple, nonsense lullaby from her music box back in the human realm- but she felt the nostalgia plant itself in her heart and create an indescribable feeling with the happiness that had settled there.

_ Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, _

_ Lavender's green. _

_ When you are king, dilly dilly, _

_ I shall be queen.  _

_ Who told you so, dilly dilly, _

_ Who told you so? _

_ 'Twas my own heart, dilly dilly, _

_ That told me so.  _

Luz took a second, third, and fourth running pirouette before stopping in front of her bedroom door. Squinting her eyes in a mischievous grin, she decided to take her little dance recital on tour. 

_ Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, _

_ Lavender's green. _

Skipping down the hall, being sure to stop and tiptoe as she neared Eda's room. She took a half second to stop and sigh- running her fingers along the door as she passed.

_ If I love you, dilly dilly, _

_ Will you love me? _

She sped back up and hit a nearly perfect chassé before deer-hopping down the stairs, landing on every third step- dangly legs outstretched like a spider. Hitting the bottom step, Luz brought her ankle to her hand, spinning once before stepping back down onto the carpeted floor.

_ Let the birds sing, dilly dilly, _

_ And the lambs play. _

_ We will be safe, dilly dilly, _

_ Out of harm's w- _

"Shit!"

Luz pressed her index finger and thumb against the bridge of her nose- reminding herself to put a quarter in the swear jar as she turned over her left foot to examine her ankle.

Her foot was pressed about 6 inches into the floor; thankfully the carpeting had softened the wood piece that she had fallen through so she didn't have to check for splinters in her injury. Pulling her leg up, she gained enough traction in her footing to stand herself back up again. The brunette carefully placed down her left foot, applying pressure against it bit by bit until she was fully standing on both feet.

No pain.

She let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

Picking up the dark amber carpet that was speckled in dark brown and red stains-  _ Luz did not want to know- _ brown fingers peeled it from the wooden floorboards, revealing the perpetrator of her near-injury:

A single discolored slab of wood in the flooring. It seemed strange, even to owl house standards. After all, every piece around it was fine and seemingly untouched. Luz bent over the wood, running her hand along it until she felt something catch on her fingernail. Looking closer, she grabbed onto the cold piece and pulled it upwards to inspect.

A handle.

She lifted herself onto her knees to stabilize her position, bringing her other hand around to the handle as well before pulling vigorously upwards. The handle gave, bringing a small trapdoor into the light before breaking off into Luz's hand. Pushing the rest of the door back as so to show the full opening, brown eyes reflected only the darkness of the hole that Luz's tan legs were crouched in front of. Feeling around on the floor, Luz picked up one of King's many stuffed animals, holding it over the space and gently letting it fall into the unknown.

_ Pumf! _

It took less than a second to hear the plush bear hit the floor. With how light it was, Luz figured that meant it had to be less than 8 feet deep. But, it was completely dark. She would need something to light the way.

Running to the kitchen, Luz's adrenaline-rattled mind didn't notice Eda's empty box of cheats laying beside the table. A socked foot stepped directly on it, sliding out and causing Luz to bite her tongue as her chin hit the floor. 

"Owww…" 

Her voice whined out, wobbly as she waited for the pain to subside. Opening her eyes that she had closed on impact- she spotted a piece of paper and a pen on the counter. 

_ Perfect. _

It wasn't a flashlight, but she supposed a little magic would do nicely. Writing out a light glyph, Luz took the paper back to the hole. She tapped it once, making sure to hold onto the little light before swinging her legs over the entrance and dropping in quickly. 

The breath that she had held for the jump now seemed anticlimactic when she hit the floor almost immediately hit the sticky ground area with a small  _ squelch _ .

Cringing at the sound, Luz chose to just simply not look down.

Opening her hands, the warmth on her palms dissipated with the rising ball of light. As her spell rose, more of the room was illuminated in soft, yellow light. The walls and floor were all a bland, stained concrete that made Luz shiver with how much it reminded her of the conformitorium. Moving forwards slowly, she noticed something sticking up from the ground in the center of the space. It was a short concrete pillar, seemingly made from the same material as the rest of the room. The color matched the walls and Luz would not have been able to pick it out from everything else had it not been for what sat atop it. Specifically, a circle of wood that looked similar to the front door. Moving closer, Luz noticed that there were miscellaneous markings and glyphs scratched into it; along with a metal piece that resembled wings. The girl was still drawing closer when she reached out her hand to give a barely-there touch along the outline of the woodwork. Holding her breath- she ran her hand over the etchings, fingernails catching so delicately against the marks. She squinted; she could almost-

"Whatcha doing, hoot hoot?"

Luz screamed, falling backwards against the ground. Her adrenaline rushed for the second time that night as she crawled backwards, feeling her heart beating out of her chest. She looked around frantically, catching someone's eyes before gasping and covering her face. 

_ Wait a minute- _

"Hooty?!"

Luz shrieked, half relieved and half exasperated,

"What are you doing here?"

The bird demon smiled, sliding closer to Luz until he was positioned right in front of her face.

"What are  _ you _ doing here, hoot hoot? Are you trying to get to my heart? Aw, hoot!"

Hooty wrapped himself around Luz's middle in an awkward attempt at a hug, resting his face on her shoulder.

"You don't have to come all the way down here to get to my heart, Luz! There's already a place in it for you"

Her eyes softened and the teenager blew out a breath in fondness before reaching a hand around to scratch the back of the bird's head. 

"Thanks, Hooty. So this is your 'heart'?"

Luz stood back up as she talked, trailing a circle around the room once again.

"Hoot hoot! Uh-huh! It's my life source, hoot! If it goes out, I go out. 

But if it doesn't, I get to stay here forever and ever and ever 

and ever and ever and ever…"

At each 'ever,' Hooty wrapped himself along Luz's shoulders, which she responded to by snorting and pushing him off. Stepping backwards, the teenager yawned and rubbed at her eyes.

Guess the "witching hour" was over and she would be able to get a few more hours of sleep before school in the morning. Luz looked upwards at the trap door. It wasn't too high up, about 6 feet, but still too high for her to be able to climb out of. She turned around quickly and gestured to the owl demon.

"Little help?"

Hooty moved under the girl, picking her up and placing her onto the owl house floor. She stood up and dusted herself off, making sure to close the trap door back and return the carpet before patting the demon again.

"Thanks again, Hooty. Goodnight."

"Goodnight best friend! Hoot hoot!"

He pecked her hairline in a way that she was sure was meant to resemble a kiss, but it stung and she was sure she would find a bruise in the morning. 

The exhaustion hit all at once as Luz made her way up the stairs, practically dragging herself by the time she got to her room. She threw herself on the sleeping bag. He changed one last glance at the window. She startled when she saw Hooty on the other side of it, staring in at her.

"And ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever…"

Somehow, the usually annoying voice lulled her into a deep sleep.

* * *

Luz awoke the next morning with the sun hitting her closed eyelids. She covered her eyes with the palms of her hands, shielding the burning Boiling Isles sun from her pupils. The series of last night's shenanigans groggily played itself over in the brunette's mind, prompting her to sit up. She pictured the way that Hooty had stared into her bedroom and shivered a little. Hoping he hadn't watched her the whole night, she snuck a glance towards the window. 

No owl demon floating outside waiting for her.

_ Phew. _

The girl usually slept in when she didn't have school, and seeing as it was Saturday- she didn't. But unfortunately She had already glanced at the sun, so her brain was working ahead to make her productive. Luz knew she wouldn't get back to sleep if she tried. She stood up on her toes, stretching up and towards the side before taking a step off of the heated bag, rubbing her bare feet on the floor in an attempt to warm them up against the cold wood. 

Luz ran her fingers through her hair as she walked through the hallway, failing to calm the brown locks. She gave up, sighing with defeat to her ever-winning genetics. Her knuckles wrapped against Eda's door as she passed by, letting her mentor know she was awake.

"G'mornin'."

She called out lazily as she continued walking, the groan from behind the closed entrance let Luz know that Eda would be downstairs in a few minutes. 

Walking into the bathroom, Luz smiled at the ball of black fluff situated in the sink. 

"Nyeh?!" 

King yelped as the teenager picked him up and cradled him against her hip with one arm. With the other, she gripped her toothbrush, wet it, and slathered on some of  _ Taroeye's Teeth Grease  _ before shoving it in her mouth and bouncing to some imaginary beat in her head. King clapped his hands at the feeling of bobbing up and down, waiting for Luz to spit before making grabby hands at her toothbrush.

"My turn! My turn!" 

Luz smiled at his screeches, rolling her eyes and repositioning the little demon so his feet kicked outwards instead of into her hip bone. 

"Yes, yes, okay, your turn."

Placing her toothbrush back on the rack, Luz grabbed the small black one in the corner and repeating the process of getting it wet and putting toothpaste on it. As soon as she had it close enough, King snatched it from her hands, shoving it under his skull piece and brushing at his teeth vigorously and violently. 

" _ Ey, mi ángel _ what did your teeth ever do to you?" 

Luz chastised, grabbing hold of the toothbrush and forcing King into doing small, circular motions instead. Once he had calmed down from the incredible, indescribable excitement he got every morning from  _ brushing his teeth- _ Luz handed him a small water cup to take and spit into. After doing so, she threw the cup into the garbage can by the sink and gave the demon a kiss on the forehead. 

"There you go, my little munchkin."

Luz held King like that up until she entered the kitchen, sitting him in his highchair at the table- much to his displeasure. Tying her apron and beginning a pastry mix, the girl took the mixing spoon out and gently tapped it on King's nose, silencing his complaints.

"We can cuddle now and go hungry, or you can let me make breakfast super-duper quick and cuddle afterwards, kay?"

King grumbled, reluctantly accepting that he would have to wait a few minutes to be snuggled like he liked.

"'M'kay…."

He crossed his arms as Luz went back to stirring, spooning the liquid out into the pan and beginning the first pancake of the day.

The soft thumping of bunny slippers on the flooring and the squeak of a kitchen chair being pulled out alerted Luz of her mentor's fashionably late presence at the dining table. 

"Good morning!"

Luz greeted cheerfully, not turning from her spot at the stove. 

"What's so great about it?" 

Eda grinned at her characteristic cynicism, grabbing the bottle of apple blood from the corner of the table and pouring herself a glass. Luz rolled her eyes and plopped another pancake down on the plate beside her, turning the stove off and putting her oven mitts away. She grabbed the two plates of food, rounding the kitchen table.

"What's great is that I get to spend all day with my favorite person in the world…"

Eda smirked at the kid's words, opening herself up for a hug, waiting for the witchling to wrap her arms around her.

Until she heard Luz pass her.

"...King!"

The student grabbed said demon out of his high chair, giving him a kiss on the forehead before setting his plate down and returning him to his seat. Eda gasped, an overdramatic hurt look painting her features. King stuck his tongue out at her with a smug look and Luz snorted, setting the witch's plate down before crossing to her with her arms outstretched. Eda intercepted her before her hug could make contact- holding Luz away by her face.

"I was kidding! I was kidding, stop it!"

The witchling whined against Eda's palm, still trying to get close enough to hold the older woman. Eda raised an eyebrow, sipping from her goblet of apple blood.

"Nah, it's okay. I get it. I'm not your favorite person in the whole world. It's not like I'm the one who has clothed and fed you these past few months, not like I let you into my home in your time of need. Of course I can't be your favorite person, your favorite person would probably be someone who has done something incredible for you, like saving your sorry human ass time after time-"

Eda wasn't able to finish, her snorting replacing her faux complaints at Luz's heartbroken look.

"Eeeeedddaaa-! Stop being so mean I know you loovvveee me!"

The older witch let go of her student's face suddenly, making Luz stumble and fall against her chest. Eda took this opportunity to wrap her arms around the girl and pull her into her lap, tickling her side's. Luz's erratic laughter filled the kitchen as she pushed against her mentor's chest. Eda gave the girl a quick kiss on the cheek before letting her go, leaving the brunette gasping for air.

"You're right. I do."

"Ahem."

All three heads at the table shot around quickly at the interruption, staring at the woman standing in the hallway. 

"Good morning, Lily."

Lilith rolled her eyes at the nickname her sister had practically scoffed out. 

"I brought fruit." 

The elder Clawthorne stated blandly, producing a basket of berries and large drupes that she had grown in the land by the shed- where she had been banished.

Luz glanced at the blue haired woman, refusing to make eye contact. Her eyes fixated on the floor, the witchling gave a quick nod of her head to the side- motioning for Lilith to come sit down. The ex-coven leader glanced at the girl; then at her sister. She reluctantly made her way to the table, setting the basket down at the edge and sitting across from Eda. She met the aforementioned woman's eyes with a disapproving glare towards the human's position on her lap. The white haired witch laughed, snorting as she raised an eyebrow, teasing.

"What, are you jealous?"

Lilith gasped in shock, physically recouping at the prospect.

King's face dropped in a mocking sympathetic look.

"Aww, Lilith, don't be jealous~  _ I _ can be  _ your _ lapdog." 

He crawled across the table towards the embarrassed woman, dropping into her lap with a small "nyeh!" 

Lilith shrieked, pushing herself away from the table, causing the wooden chair to scrape and clatter behind her with a loud  _ bang!  _ King scampered back up the table from the place he had fallen on the floor, crossing his arms and sticking his tongue out at Lilith. 

The room was silent for a moment at the outburst, the three at the table exchanging glances at each other before a shrill, brain-scraping voice broke through the air like a sheath.

"Hoot hoot, Lilith. Maybe it would be fun, hoot, to have a lapdog instead of being one!"

You would have thought a bomb went off with the way that the kitchen exploded into a lively screeching of laughter, knee slapping, and loud snorting.

Every minute of the display forced Lilith's ears a deeper red. After a few minutes, Eda blew out a deep breath, patting Luz on the shoulder- signaling her to go back to her own seat. 

"Alright, alright,"

Eda scolded lightly, wiping her forehead,

"That's enough teasing for today. Luz, give Lily her breakfast."

"...Should I put it in a dog bowl for her?"

* * *

Luz sat under the kitchen table, finishing up the basket of fruit that Lilith had left in her hurry back to her shed. Luckily, the witch had been so embarrassed that she had forgotten all about the berries and assorted plants she had left on the table- leaving them to Luz's enjoyment. The girl quickly finished off another drupe, licking the seed clean and putting it back in the basket. Putting the basket handle around her wrist, the witchling crawled out from under the table, planning to take the rest of the fruit back up to her bedroom before she was stopped by a hand on her back. Her brunette hair stood on end as Luz whipped her head around, relaxing once she spotted the bunny-slippers clad witch behind her.

"Pay the troll toll to pass."

Eda snickered, sticking out her hand expectantly. Luz jutted out her bottom lip and handed the basket over. The grey haired woman gave her a sympathetic look before patting her head. 

"Don't pout, you know I can't resist that. I'm gonna start lunch soon and I don't want you ruining your appetite, kay?"

"Okay." 

The teenager stuck her tongue out before agreeing, prompting a laugh from the woman. Eda grabbed her face with two fingers, squishing her cheeks together before bending down to eye level.

"How about you and me make jam together out of these later this afternoon, huh?"

Luz's eyes immediately widened at the idea, nodding her head up and down vigorously. Eda released her grip, ruffling the kid's hair before turning around to put the basket on the countertop for later. Luz watched her for a moment before she remembered something:

"How's that glyph practice I gave you been going?"

The older witch threw open a drawer of silverware, making its contents spill out onto the floor, creating a loud clanging sound that no one in the house could hear themselves think through.

"Sorry, I'm busy, uh… Cooking! Couldn't hear you, Luz, alright, bye now!"

Brown eyes rolled to the back of her head as the youngest left her mentor to 'cook', choosing to walk back upstairs instead.

* * *

_ Against the burrowing breeze of the rain, Azura felt the drops of water attack her face and clothes, soaking her thoroughly. But the woman found herself not being able to care- at least it shielded the world from knowing she had been crying. She glared up at the sky, begging the higher powers for an answer; why couldn't she ever be allowed a shred of happiness?! A voice cut through the storm and interrupted the self deprecating thoughts. _

_ "Azura?" _

_ "Hecate?!" _

_ Her green locks whished around quickly as she came face to face with her one true love. The women ran at each other, colliding into a powerful embrace. Hecate cradled her lover's cheek. Azura took the hint to move in, bringing their lips together in- _

"Aw, dammit."

Luz swore, brushing off the piece of lead that had fallen out of her pencil. She had been so invested in this scene in her fanfiction that she hadn't noticed how heavily she was pressing onto the paper until the top of the writing utensil had snapped. Not the biggest deal in the world, she shrugged it off. Standing to make her way downstairs, she was sure she had seen a cup of pens and pencils in the living room. 

Walking into the carpeted room, Luz dropped a quarter in the swear jar before throwing herself down on the couch, taking inventory of the clutter strewn around. She passed her finger over piles of crumpled paper, half empty water bottles, a few mugs with x-rated sayings on them, and a horse saddle.

"No... no... definitely not…I didn't even realize we had that… Oh! There they are!"

Her eyes jumped to a cup of tools set upon a table that someone had haphazardly thrown a blanket over in lieu of a tablecloth. 

"A-ha!" Luz yelled triumphantly, grabbing the bottom of the cup.

And with it, a handful of the blanket, causing everything on top of it to fall off. 

The girl stood among the wreckage, taking a moment to process everything on the floor before bending down to scoop up the mess. Once the cup of pencils was once again full, she set it down and moved to pick up the blanket. Standing to put it back over the table, she stopped in her tracks at the sight of something on the table that had been covered by the blanket before.

"Lunchtime!"

Eda burst into the room, completely covered in what looked like griffon grease and egg whites while ringing an obnoxious yellow bell as a call to King and Luz.

"Where'd you get this?"

The aforementioned witch-in-training asked, pointing to the large, black box on the tabletop. 

Eda pursed her lips and ran a hand through her hair, prompting a group of leaves and a squirrel to fall out.

"Owlbert brought in a crate of like 50 of these bad boys once. I didn't have enough room to hold onto 'em, and some loser bought out the whole lot to sell himself or some garble. Don't know how that went, I snuck this one out for myself though." She knocked on the side of the machine with her knuckles. "I've got no clue what it does, but I'm assuming you do?"

"Yeah, it's a radio set. Fully solar powered, can receive up to 30 different transmissions at once, and can broadcast them to thousands in turn. This brand in particular is an 00G-2959, it was infamous back home for being an innovative piece for military work. How you managed to snag 50 is beyond me." Her face reddened as the girl seemed too excited to even take a breath, running her fingers along the side of the radio. 

"Geez kid, I never used that thing as more than a coaster, and you look like you're about to pass out just from touching it. If you like it so much, it's yours."

Luz let out what sounded like a cross between a gasp and a shriek.

"You mean it?!"

Not even waiting for confirmation, she threw herself at her mentor.

"Luz, wait, don't-!"

Eda's warnings went unheard as the kid was flung into her arms, spreading the grease and egg whites all over the both of them. The brunette sighed against the older woman's chest before pulling away. Or at least, attempting to pull away. The kitchen mess had stiffened, turning into an almost glue-like substance against the two.

"Are we… Stuck?"

"Yep." Eda replied, popping the 'p' sound.

"King come help us out here!"

At the call of the girl's voice, the small demon hurried down the stairs. He stopped at the last step, taking in his roommates pressed against each other before his mouth turned up in a smile.

"Cuddle party!"

"King-  _ no!" _

"Wait, don't!" 

They cried out, but it was too late. King took a running leap and-

_ Squelch _

"Ah, shit."

"... Swear jar."

  
  


* * *

  
  


"Uuuuuggggghhhh…"

It was around 10pm by the time that Luz made it back upstairs to her room. After lunch, it had taken Lilith over an hour to pry her, King, and Eda apart- albeit she did have to take a break to laugh twice and took a third break just to lecture them. 

Once apart, Eda and Luz had made jam together just like her mentor had promised. 

The younger girl even left some at the shed doorstep as an apology to Lilith for the way they had all carried on at breakfast- not that she would admit it to anyone.

However, after a full day of being hosed down and buttered in attempts to be separated from her friends, as well as churning a pot of jam until her arms felt like they were going to melt off- Luz felt grateful to drop herself onto her sleeping bag and lay down. 

The girl had just closed her eyes when she heard a strange noise from outside. Whining loudly, she didn't even bother standing up, choosing instead to drag herself across the floor on her hands and knees to the window. Pulling herself up over the windowsill, Luz rested her face against the pane, looking for the source of the noise. Her brown eyes skimmed the trees and outskirts of the house before eventually landing on the pitiful scene by the front door. 

Hooty had his face lying deep in the mud, giving out sad little hoots into the mushy ground. 

The owl demon wasn't exactly the most popular presence in the owl house, but the witchling was still aware that today was probably hard on him. Aside from his quip at breakfast, he had been put outside and ignored throughout the other activities in the day. Even the beetle that he had started talking to around noon had flown off after just a minute. Most days Hooty only made Luz feel somewhat frustrated, but looking out at his depressed form, she only felt a twang of sympathy. Weighing her losses, the tan girl chose to open the window.

"Oh, woe is me, woe is me!" 

Luz sighed dramatically, angling herself into the open, throwing one hand onto her forehead like she was about to faint.

The light brown owl head noticed her immediately, rushing up towards her in the slinky-squirmy way that made Luz's skin crawl. 

"Hoot, hoot! What's got your feathers twisted?"

The human made a fist and stared off into the moon, keeping character as she spoke with a forlorn edge.

"It's nothing, Hooty, I just- I don't know how I'll ever get to bed without a forehead kiss. But it's not your problem, I wouldn't want you to worry."

"Really, hoot?!"

Hooty twisted himself into a heart shape, his eyes widening with excitement.

"I could do it! Pick me, hoot hoot, pick me!!"

"Gee, I don't know…"

The owl wrapped his tube-like body around Luz's small shoulders, begging directly into the girl's ears.

"Please, please, please, please,  _ please-!' _

"Oh, alright."

The human agreed, leaning forward as she felt a quick, hard, peck against her forehead. Thankfully it was a different spot than the bruise he had left the night before. She returned the favor, giving the owl a kiss on the cheek before shutting her window- drowning out Hooty's repeated goodnight wishes.

Cuddling up in her sleeping bag, Luz let the day's shenanigans race across her closed eyelids. Smiling gently, she fell asleep.

* * *

_ Mirrors covered every wall, deep slices in the glass obscuring them into spiderweb patterns. _

_ She was running. _

_ How long had she been running? _

_ She couldn't even remember what she was running from. _

_ Luz coughed, spitting a black bile into her hands. _

_ Her hands? _

_ She didn't recognize them. _

_ Who's body is this? _

_ The confusion addled her mind, slowing her steps until she tripped over seemingly nothing, falling to her knees. She watched the mirror, waiting for her attacker to catch up so she could see their reflection.  _

_ Hearing the footsteps approach, the human forced herself to look at the walls.  _

_ Her mother's face appeared in every piece of cracked glass. _

_ "Mami?!" _

_ Luz screamed out in confusion, turning on her heel to face her mother. _

_ But her mother was gone. _

_ In her place stood another Luz, her face blank and emotionless to the point of being menacing. _

_ The second Luz grabbed the human's shoulders, pushing her backwards where she was given the sensation of falling for what felt like an eternity. _

_ The deeper she went, the farther everything got, until the room of mirrors was just a glint of light above her. _

_ Luz's ears popped, playing back voices like a recorded tape on loop. _

_ Finally with her family. Her real family. _

_ Her real family. _

_ Her real family. _

Luz jolted to a sitting position, gasping as she came out of the nightmare. Clashing her hands together in an attempt to keep from shaking, she held them to her chest- feeling her heartbeat go from erratic to steady.

The girl didn't need to check the time, the darkness from the window told her everything she needed to know.

"Good morning, 3:48am."

She sighed, laying back against the floor.

Nights weren't always like this, but the nights that were- well, they were haunting. She knew she wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon; yet the thought of being alone with her thoughts was panic inducing in itself. King was downstairs, but snuggling him while he was on the couch wasn't allowed- he was afraid it would embarrass him in front of his stuffed animals. She wouldn't go to Lilith with these issues if her life depended on it and Luz knew that climbing in bed with Eda was a moot point. She would watch the woman breathe and overthink about the night at the Emperor's castle instead of sleeping.

The girl groaned, pressing her chest to the ground in an attempt to dull the hot panic that scratched at her brain. She just wanted something as a distraction, someone to talk to. Even if it was a complete stranger.

_ Even if it was a complete stranger. _

Luz shot out of bed, stumbling down the stairs in such a destructive way that she wouldn't be surprised if she had sprained her ankle. Coming down to the living room, she threw the carpet up from over the trap door, flinging dust and small debris into the air. Cupping both her hands around the handle, the girl pulled upward with a sense of urgency flowing through her. Once tue door was open, she put a chair by it's entrance, keeping it propped open.

Dusting herself off, she moved to the center of the living room, grabbing the radio she had drooled over the day before. Hauling the massive piece of metal over one shoulder, Luz picked the chair away from the door and jumped down into the heart. 

Once her bare feet were on the ground, Luz squirmed again at the feeling of the stone floor being slightly wet. Moving towards the middle, she propped the radio against Hooty's pillar, flipping the switch on.

There was only static crackling noises that filled the air, unsurprisingly. Luz flipped through the channels, each one being different volumes of white noise. Finding the quietest channel, the human pulled the small microphone off of the side and placed it near her lips.

"Good morning, I'm Lu-"

She paused, thinking it might not be the best thing to do to give out her real name. Taking a pause, the girl steadied herself with a breath.

"Good morning! I'm Luzura N.. Nicewitch! And this is your 4am connection right here on, uh, channel 666.6; that's six hundred and sixty six point six, folks. The only radio station in the Boiling Isles at the magic hour that is perfect for zombies or that man who sleeps in the park during the day to tune into. Riddle me this, what's better than therapy? Venting your issues to up to 50 strangers who may or may not hear this at once! It's just like the internet! So don't change that channel, because I'm about to tell you everything that has ever happened to me since my third birthday!"

Luz leaned back, holding the microphone away as she cleared her throat. Only deathly silence came from it's receivers now. She listened for a moment before sighing and repositioning the mix.

"Hello? Is anyone out there? Anyone…? Aw, whatever, let's get started, shall we? So my oldest memory, I think, started with being at the dentist's office…"

* * *

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

It was Amity's 10th birthday and her siblings had no idea what to get her.

They had spent the last two hours browsing every street market in Bonesborough, and with each passing vendor, they felt like they knew less and less about what their little sister and what she liked. 

The twins passed by a small man selling personalized muckcakes just as Edric's scroll gave out a small shriek. The lanky boy reached into his back pocket, lazily flipping open the enchanted parchment. Emira, being the tallest of the two, perched her head just over his shoulder, both of them glancing at the text Edric had just received.

"Mom says Mittens' party starts in 30 minutes." 

The shorter looked up at his sister- _ curse male puberty for delaying his growth spurt-  _ obvious alarm ringing through his voice.

"I'm aware. I can read, too, just in case you forgot." 

Emira countered, a childishly teasing edge on her tongue.

"Not according to your scores on Mrs. Jenkinmeier's last grammar test."

"Edric! Those are private!"

The girl pushed the back of her laughing brother's head, forcing him to stumble back four times before falling directly onto someone's table.

Pieces of a banner fell and covered Edric's head as he found himself laying on his backside. 

"Uhhhh…"

The boy groaned out, moving the maroon cloth from his face. As soon as his eyes were uncovered, he looked upwards. A large man stood not even a foot away from him, bent over to Edric's height. The man's hands were placed firmly on his hips and his jar was set around his cigarette in a clearly unamused way. He stunted four eyes, all scrunched in anger, two large horns, and a face full of more piercings than either of the twins had ever seen. Edric could have sworn he saw his life flash before his eyes and as the pierced man took a step closer- the boy was surprised he didn't wet himself. 

"I'm just g-gonna- I'll just, I mean I'm, I'll, uh, put this back…"

The lanky teen stood up, hanging the banner back up at the top of the booth before flashing the owner a nervous grin and thumbs-up. Emira walked up to her brother, wrapping her arm around him and squeezing his shoulder in reassurance when she felt him shaking.

"We're  _ super _ sorry about your booth," Emira started, choosing to look at the man's neck instead of his face, who just grunted in response to her. 

The girl swallowed nervously in turn, giving a weak smile. 

A loud yelling noise caused the twins to nearly jump out of their skin, both of them shielding their faces. 

There was a pause before Edric looked down, realizing the noise was being produced from the inside of his pocket. He smiled sheepishly, pulling out his scroll with wide eyes. Looking at his sister, the shorter grimaced.

_ It's mom! _

He mouthed to her, causing Emira to sigh. 

She looked back up at the large man, peeking around his shoulder to see a large box situated on the counter. She rolled her eyes as Edric grabbed at her sleeve, obviously panicking over the unanswered call.

Emira put on a big fake smile, hoping the older shop owner wouldn't pick out her nervousness through it. 

"You know, we're  _ so sorry _ , that we actually would love to take whatever that is on that counter over there off of your hands. How much?" 

The man grunted, looking at the large tan box before guffawing.

"That? You wouldn't know what to do with that, it's just two-"

_ "I said we'll take it _ ." 

Emira stated pointedly, her smile failing as her brother continued to whine in her ear, holding the screeching phone up towards her. 

The man scoffed, his coarse features being replaced with pure amusement. He walked backwards, never taking his eyes off the Blights as he picked up the package with one arm, throwing it towards the booth table, where it landed with a  _ thud _ right next to Emira. 

"Fifty snails."

He demanded, holding out his hand. 

Edric gawked at the price.

"But that's all we h-"

" _ It's fine."  _

Emira's jaw was set in frustration at the situation. If she had to listen to that stupid scroll go off for another single second, she felt as though she might lose her mind. With one hand, she quickly fished the bag of coins their parents had given them out of Edric's pocket and tossed them onto the booth. With the other, the girl snatched the scroll from her open-mouthed brother, slamming her finger on the answer button before holding it up to her ear.

"Hello, mother. Yes, we just got the gift. Uh-huh... I'm sure she'll love it... Yes, don't worry... Why does it matter what color her hair is in the pictures? Yes, ma'am… okay. Uh-huh. Alright. Yeah, we'll be there in a few minutes… yes ma'am. Okay, bye, I love y-"

_ Beep. _

The twelve year old huffed, her mother having hung up before she could finish. Folding the scroll, she pushed the bottom of Edric's still-open mouth up, closing it for him. 

"Grab that." 

She grouched, using her thumb to gesture to the box that was haphazardly thrown at her. Edric obliged, making a spell circle that would carry it behind the two as they walked home.

He knew better than to mess with his sister when she was in a mood. He took in a deep breath, sighing loudly.

The Blight manor was 20 minutes away, and he could tell the walk wasn't going to be filled with the usual chatter. 

A mischievous grin grew slowly across the boy's face as drew a second spell circle, making sure Emira was looking. With a quick flash, the vendor's sign was gone, replaced with the wooden replica of a very suggestive and phallic shape.

Emira rolled her eyes at him, but he could see her trying to hold back a small smile for the remainder of the walk.

* * *

As it turns out, the Blight parents hadn't pestered their eldest children about the time because they were scared the two would miss their little sister's party. 

No, the Blight parents had pestered their eldest children about the time because  _ they _ wanted to leave their youngest daughter's party. 

"The names of the guests as well as their parent's phone numbers are in the binder on the kitchen table. You know where the board games are, lead them with one until entertainment gets here. The band finishes at 6, serve cake and presents at 6:30, give everyone their party favors as they leave around 7:30. There's dinner for the three of you in the oven. The cleaning lady will be over in the morning, but I still want you to tidy up before you go to bed. Oh, also, I want Amity in bed and asleep by 9; she has an important hair appointment tomorrow."

Odalia Blight adjusted her gloves at her wrists as she spoke, not looking at the upset looks on her twin children's faces. They were not exactly thrilled to spend the rest of their day babysitting some silver spoon brats. Their mother drew a quick spell circle, summoning a mirror as she raised her lips, checking her teeth for any makeup smudges. Finding nothing, she gave herself and her formal wear a last pat down before grabbing on to her husband's outstretched arm. Alador, in turn, looked a little uncomfortable at the prospect of leaving his daughter alone on her 10th birthday. Looking back between his older children's uncertain expressions and the living room where Amity was pouting into the couch cushions, his face was tied in a grimace.

"It sure is a shame that this day trip we planned had to be pushed back to today…" He buffered, seemingly looking to the twins for any excuse to stay.

"Yes, yes, it's unfortunate but how were we supposed to know that it fell on Amity's big day? You know I can never remember those dates. Also dearest, this trip is once in a lifetime; they only open the miasma metrograde once every 80 years. She'll have another birthday next year." 

Odalia rolled her eyes into her mirror. Her husband always did have an affinity for his youngest daughter. But that was no reason to baby her, she needed to understand that sacrifices are important to anyone if they want to go anywhere in life. Amity was 10 years old now, she should understand a lick of independence. Hell, when the twins were that age, they were practically  _ raising _ her. 

A doorbell ring echoed throughout the house, making Mrs. Blight magic away the mirror, her eyes wide with excitement.

"Honey, that's the griffin taxi, let's go."

The woman barely gave a wave over her shoulder at her children as she began walking away. Her husband stalled for a moment, obviously torn, but his wife's delicately painted nails had a vice grip on his wrist; pulling the man along with her on her way out. The twins looked at him sympathetically, sparing a small wave and a smile before he was out the door.

As soon as their father was out of sight, Edric and Emira dropped their peppy faces, their looks replaced with a mirrored misery instead. They shrugged their shoulders at each other, linking arms as they walked into the living room.

Just in time to see a pink haired girl down an entire cup of pixie dust, spin around three times, and then promptly vomit on the carpet. 

"Not it!" 

Emira yelled out, pressing her finger to the tip of her nose before summoning a mop. She threw the cleaning supplies at the boy, laughing as she ran off to get board games.

Edric closed his eyes and sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that day. Through the sound of elementary schoolers laughing, his ears picked up on the noises of equipment being hauled in from the back yard.

At least the kids would be distracted with the band for a little while, and he could have enough time to throw iced punch down his twin's shirt for leaving him to clean up puke.

The green haired boy glanced up at the grandfather clock situated in the main room, the snake head pointing to four.

_ Only three and a half more hours. _

  
  


* * *

The band was pretty alright in Emira's opinion, at least the parts that she could hear from her and her brother's joint bedroom. Pulling out her bottom drawer, she grabbed a cyan colored t-shirt, throwing it onto her bed as she took off the juice stained top she currently had on. The girl scrunched her eyebrows, imagining ways to get Edric back for the stunt as she wiped the stickiness off of her bare chest and small shoulders. 

Throwing on the top, Emira walked downstairs to get to the back patio, running her fingers along the stair railing as she descended into the den. Passing the kitchen, she smirked. 

Pursing her lips in a whistle, the girl's body language switched from bored to impish as she snuck around her parent's bar, making her way towards the counter. Putting a knee up, she pulled herself up onto the bar and stood on her toes to look out the window. Golden eyes searched the crowd of children outside, stopping as soon as they landed on Edric.

Emira giggled to herself, bringing her hand up by her head and drawing a small spell circle. Before the blue circle even had a chance to fizzle out, Edric's nose had been replaced with one three times the size. The green haired girl stuck out her tongue as she laughed at her handiwork, not even caring that her brother couldn't hear her. 

Jumping off the counter, Emira ran towards the back door, hoping to count how long it took until Edric realized what she had done. Sliding to a stop, the eldest Blight daughter noticed a brown and pink streak out of the corner of her eye.

"Amity?"

The brunette was sitting alone by the couch, a pad of paper and some crayons in her hands. Her pink "birthday girl" tiara had slid halfway off of her head, hanging limply from one side. Her head shot up at the sound of her name, startled. Emira looked around in confusion before walking towards her younger sister, sitting on the carpet next to her. 

"What are you doing? Everyone's outside."

Amity shrugged her shoulders at the question, keeping her eyes set on the floor. Emira bit her lip and drew her eyebrows in concentration- she knew that her little sister shut down like this sometimes, but she had no clue how to deal with it. Tapping her fingernails against her thighs, she glanced down at the drawing on the floor.

It was of their family. Mother and father stood tall in the very back, with the twins directly in front of them. Amity stood in the front, between her siblings. Her hair had been colored brown, but had obviously been gone over in green. Emira squirmed a brow at it.

"You wanna dye your hair, Mittens?"

It had been the first she had heard of it. Mother would never have let the older sister dye  _ her  _ hair at ten years old. Emira almost felt jealous. Amity just shrugged again in response, turning her head away from her sister and burying it in her kneecaps.

The twelve year old was at a loss for words. She bit her lip harder, tasting blood on her tongue. Unsure of herself, she reached out and grabbed the smaller hand in her own. Amity didn't look up, but Emira could feel her squeeze her hand just slightly. 

"EM, YOU  _ ROTTEN-" _

Edric's voice rang through the house and both girls cringed at the sound of the back door being thrown open. The ear-ringing noise was immediately followed by loud footsteps as the boy threw himself at his twin, the two of them rolling on the floor as Edric pulled at his sister's hair. 

"I didn't even notice it until I was saying goodbye to the band! I asked for an autograph and one of them looked at me and laughed!  _ Laughed!  _ I was so embarrassed!"

Emira snickered at the mental image her brother's complaining drew, lifting her legs and kicking him off of her. 

"Wait, so the band's gone?"

Emira asked, pulling back the strands of hair that the other twin had jostled out back into a braid.

"Yeah, it's time for presents, then the cake, and then this whole shebang is over with. Say, what're you two doing out here. What's your deal, Mittens?"

Edric looked to the older sister when Amity didn't reply. She shrugged her shoulders in response. The boy gave her a look of  _ whatever _ before standing and rubbing the brunette's head.

"Didn't like the band?"

"They were… Loud."

Amity answered bluntly. The twins shared another look before they each grabbed one of her arms, pulling the birthday girl to her feet.

"Well, let's forget about all that, it's time for presents!" 

Edric pumped his fists, gesturing for Amity to do the same. She rolled her eyes, half heartedly raising a hand up as she followed both of them outside.

The table was overflowing with presents, most of them large and covered in sparkly pink wrapping paper. Except for one that immediately caught the young girl's eye.

"What's that?" 

She asked, pointing to a large box that just looked like it was made out of tan cardboard and never covered. Emira and Edric grimaced at each other as they saw what she was pointing to.

"It's- that is an, um- well you see- it's uh, it does a thing- maybe you should open it last- haha I dunno just an idea…"

The twins stumbled over their words, interrupting each other as they nervously tried to move the box away and look at the contents themselves, but Amity would not have it. She stuck out her bottom lip in frustration, sporting a heavy pout as she crossed to the box anyway. Taking her pointed pinky nail, Amity maintained malicious eye contact with her siblings as she sliced through the packing tape. Opening the box, she peered in.

It just looked like a hunk of cheap metal melted together. Her visible confusion churned into anger as she assumed the twins had gotten her a box of garbage as a joke.

Reading her expression, the twins quickly stepped up to her. 

"No, no! Listen it's… cool, I swear, I think. You just gotta…? Turn it on…?"

Edric laughed nervously, running his hands over the object, looking for some sort of switch. Emira came up behind her little sister, putting her hands on Amity's shoulders in a sign of comfort. The boy eventually found what he was looking for, scraping the edge of a cold, raised metal.

What none of the siblings knew was that the button belonged to, there was no way for them to have. They didn't even notice that the box didn't hold an incredibly large radio system, but instead two stacked on top of each other.

And, unfortunately, they also had no way of knowing that the 00G-2959 model was so powerful due to its hypersensitivity to frequencies. These particular systems could not be placed within 10 feet of each other, otherwise the only noise produced would be a heavy feedback ringing. 

Edric's hand pressed down against the machine, a loud  _ click _ echoing as Amity raised her eyebrows in a curious excitement.

It all happened in barely half a second.

An ear-splitting ringing tore out, resounding into the air. The din could be heard by even the band as they were halfway down the street. The crescendo burrowed itself into the crowd's ears, the buzzing feeling as though it would melt their brains. The guests quickly clapped their hands over their ears in a feeble attempt to drown out the sound.

Emira, in a startled instinct, pushed her sister away at the noise, cowering to her knees with her head clasped between her hands. 

"Ed!"

She tried to call out, but she could only feel her mouth moving- she couldn't hear herself at all.

Thankfully, the other Blight had already begun scrambling around, trying to find the button. Feeling the protruding piece, he punched it, successfully shutting the radio off. 

There was a collective sigh of relief that rippled among the crowd, until it slowly turned into teasing laughter.

Emira, still crouching, began to stand up. She didn't understand what everyone was laughing at. Looking into the crowd, the girl noticed a few kids with their fingers pointing to something just behind her.

Emira turned around, a look of shocked horror painting itself across her face as she stared at where the table had been.

In the midst of the panic and screeching from the radios, she hadn't heard Amity fall backwards.

Or the cake being crushed under the smaller girl.

Or the table toppling under the weight of the fall.

The twins made eye contact for a split second, reflecting each other's looks of deep alarm before turning their attention back to their little sister.

The brunette was frozen. 

Still laying on her back among the sugary mess, her body was stiff and her mouth was still open in a small "o" shape. The girl's eyes were wide with confusion and slightly glazed over, as if she was still processing what had happened.

Another wave of laughter snapped her back into the very embarrassing reality. Amity clapped her hand over her mouth, trying to stifle the cries as she ran into the house, face burning.

Looking at the mess, the twins knew that there wasn't any point in continuing the party.

"I guess someone should call the kids' parents…"

"And someone should talk to Mittens."

"Not it."

"Not- dang it, okay."

Emira huffed as her brother pulled on the skin below his left eye, making a face at her, before running off into the kitchen to grab their parents' list of phone numbers on the freezer.

Which left her with little sister duty.

Walking towards the staircase, the elder girl pretended not to notice her hands shaking as they glided across the rich white mahogany of the banister. Each footstep resounded in her ears, prompting her heart to sink lower.

Emira wasn't  _ evil. _ Sure, her and Edric pulled pranks on Mittens fairly often- but they were still family, right? Neither of the twins had meant for this to happen. They would never have gone that far. This was supposed to be Amity's day. This was supposed to be her chance.  _ Their chance.  _ To prove themselves as good siblings.  _ Truly _ good siblings, not just the farce that their mother portrayed to the world through portraits of the three of them in matching costumes, hugging each other and wearing grins that didn't reach their eyes. Emira had  _ tried  _ this time, she had tried so hard.

_ I am a good sister, dammit! _

Lost in thought, she almost passed the bedroom door with the words "stay out" etched into the door frame. Wiping the tears that the Blight hadn't noticed had fallen, she forced her hand steady before bringing it to the wood and knocking.

Holding her breath, she awaited the answer that never came. 

"Mittens?"

She called out gently, rapping her white knuckles against the door three more times.

"Amity?"

Shaking fingertips brought themselves to the doorknob, slowly pushing it open into the bedroom as Emira called out again, an underlying plea striking her voice.

Peeking in, she saw only darkness. Allowing a minute to adjust, a small glow found itself shining in the older girl's vision. Focusing on it, Emira was able to make out the silhouette of her sister crouched over in a corner, scribbling fervently into her diary with only a small light spell to illuminate the pages. 

Emira took a step into the room, the brunette in the corner remaining completely oblivious to the open door as she rubbed her pen harshly across the paper- ripping it in areas.

Swallowing thickly, Emira crossed the room as quietly as she could, kneeling on the ground two feet away from Amity. 

"Hey."

She barely whispered it, reaching out until her badly painted nails found their way pressed against the younger girl's back. Amity flinched, her entire body going stiff as her head whipped around. The confusion in her eyes quickly turned to a look of cold rage when she laid eyes on her meek looking older sister. Jumping to her feet, she ripped herself out of Emira's grip, throwing the book in her hands at the other's chest.

  
  


"Haha, so funny, Em! You got me, _great_ one! Absolutely fucking hilarious! I get it, I'm stupid and gullible and skittish, _I_ _get it, okay?_ It must be so funny to you to watch me be miserable! Well, chuckle it up then, I don't _care!_ "

  
  


Emira physically recoiled, both from the shock and the sensation of the diary slamming against her ribcage. Her hands absentmindedly brought themselves to her chest, rubbing where she had been struck.

It was almost comical, really, how in the complexity of the situation, Emira could only find herself wondering how her little sister had learned to speak with such vulgarity. Despite the shaking of her hands, the dryness of her throat, and the burning feeling centered in her chest, the older Blight couldn't be made to think of herself. She was zeroed in on golden eyes that were the same as hers, yet they only reflected a distanced glare. 

It suddenly hit Emira just how  _ small _ Amity was. Standing in a defensive pose, it seemed as if the rest of the room towered and overpowered the brunette.

There was a special kind of dissonance that came with seeing a girl so small filled with so much hatred.

Her tongue felt numb as she heard herself speak, but she couldn't feel her mouth moving.

  
  


"Amity, I'm  _ sorry _ -"

  
  


"Why should I listen to anything you have to say?!"

  
  


" _ Please,  _ just  _ let me-" _

  
  


" _ Abominations _ ,  _ rise!" _

  
  


Amity interrupted, summoning the magical monsters from the ground, her face stone cold.

She showed no sign of cracking.

Emira quickly raised her hands over her head in a surrender that seemed almost begging, trying to will the purple goop out of the room.

She didn't want to give up, but Amity was only 10 years old and in a heavily emotional state- Emira feared that she would drain herself if she continued to summon the abominations. So, the eldest sister did something she had never done before.

She surrendered her pride.

"Okay,"

Her voice shook as she lowered her hands, gluing her eyes to the ground. 

"Okay, I'll leave."

Amity breathed out, her magic bubbling and fizzing out around her. Light eyebrows drew themselves into a crease on her forehead. She had never heard anyone, especially one of her siblings, sound so utterly  _ defeated. _

"Em."

The younger chewed on her bottom lip, torn between reaching out or burying her emotions once again. Emira stopped on command, lingering in the doorway. She still refused to turn and meet her sister's eyes.  _ Old habits die hard, I suppose _ , Amity thought to herself as she crossed her arms over her chest, setting her face and pushing down the urge to run into the other's arms.

"Flip the light on your way out."

Emira chuckled despondently at the request, a humorless sound. Nevertheless, she made her way to the lights, giving a small flame to one that eventually lit up every lamp in the room. Without looking back on her handiwork, the eldest walked out of the bedroom, closing the door slowly on her little sister.

* * *

"No, listen, we could totally take this to school and play it over the loudspeaker."

Edric picked the first radio system out of the box, stepping on top of the second one as he threw the metal onto the kitchen table; rattling Emira's plate. The girl hummed in response, pushing her dinner around with a fork. Edric huffed in indignation at being ignored, lifting his foot up and climbing on top of the table.

"Just imagine it: Bump's annoying old voice giving us the usual announcements in homeroom, everyone talking over him because  _ duh _ , no one wants to listen to that and  _ blam _ ! Everyone's running out onto the field with their ears bleeding!"

The male twin emphasized his plan with a swift kick to the dinner plate in front of him.

"Ed-! Ugh!"

Emira screeched as the plate hit the floor, splattering sauce and meatloaf across her body.

"What?" 

Edric answered with a toothy grin, grabbing a piece of asparagus out of his female counterpart's hair and popping it in his mouth before speaking again.

"You weren't eating it."

Emira huffed, rolling her eyes, but she could feel her face heat up in embarrassment.

"I was  _ going  _ to!"

"Was not."

"Was too."

"Was not."

"Was- I just- I'm not hungry, okay!"

Edric laughed at his sister's embarrassment as she tried to bury her face in her collar, sticking his tongue out at her in a teasing manner.

"I didn't realize the opinion of a ten year old was enough to make you lose your appetite."

Emira tensed at the statement, her knuckles tightening against the plate she was picking up until they turned white. 

"You going soft, B-?"

"Dammit, Ed, she's our  _ sister!" _

The plate flew by the boy's head, lightly scraping his ear before shattering against a wall- taking Edric's unbothered facade with it as he stared at his sister with large eyes.

She hadn't meant to snap. 

The sound of her brother's mocking tone had crawled into Emira's ears and bedded itself as a lump in her throat- causing tears that prompted that helpless feeling that she hated.

She knew he didn't mean anything by it. She knew he was trying to get her out of her head. She knew that's just how they interacted with each other.

_ She knew- _

"Is this how normal families act?"

The green haired girl tried- and ultimately failed- to keep her voice steady, crossing her arms over herself to try and stop the shaking as her voice broke halfway through the question. Edric's eyebrows raised in shock, silently making his way across the table and sitting cross-legged in front of his twin. She turned her face away from him.

"Em, I don't- what do you mean?" 

His eyes searched his sister's face as Edric looked for any answer to her outburst. The girl was set on not meeting his gaze, her watery eyes centered on her lap. Stalling her answer, she cleared her throat and coughed into her nightgown sleeves before wiping her eyes quickly. The other twin waited patiently, drumming his fingers gently against the table. Emira breathed out slowly.

"It's just. I mean, I don't really know. It's- this is how we've always been. Me and you, I-I mean. Ever since we could speak we've been throwing verbal and physical punches at each other for the giggles. We bond and show affection through jokes, usually at each other's expense. That's what we're used to."

She took a deep breath, attempting to quell the redness from her face and organize her thoughts before speaking again.

"And I mean, I like that! There's nothing wrong with it. I don't want to change… It's just, you know, sometimes I see other families and it's… Not like that. It sounds stupid saying it out loud-uh,but they're more like piggyback rides and trips together and movie nights and… I love yous. And when I'm really, really honest with myself, sometimes I want that."

Edric was speechless. Casting his eyes downward, he could only bite his lip and nod softly in understanding. Emira took this as a sign to continue, wiping her face of tears that covered her skin again almost instantaneously.

"All three of us have these high expectations to be the family's best a-and I don't- we- sometimes I don't feel like we're siblings at all. It feels like we're just rivals living under the same roof. And it  _ hurts  _ and  _ no one else ever talks about it! _ I mean, Titan, Ed! The three of us used to bathe together and now we don't even have the emotional vulnerability to say 'I love you'? I can't even  _ remember- _ "

"I love you."

Emira jumped at the sudden contact as she felt her brother's hand land on her shoulder. Losing all resolve and forgetting about the appearances she was supposed to keep up, the twin threw herself into her brother's arms. Edric obliged, smoothing out her hair and sighing.

"I… I can't say I've never felt jealousy at other families, I guess I just kinda  _ accepted _ that we could never be like that.  _ I  _ was able to pretend I was comfortable with how things are, and therefore never thought to ask if you were, or if Mittens was, or even amuse the idea of change. That's- that was selfish of me and I'm sorry."

The boy pulled away for a moment, taking the time to wipe his nose across his sleeve before resuming idly braiding his twin's hair and whispering the second part, almost to himself.

"Em, I don't wanna end up like our parents. I think- I mean I… I'm scared."

Emira nodded against the shorter boy's chest, pulling away to place a hand on his shoulder and meet his gaze with a watery determination.

"We won't. We still have so much time. We can get better." She took a side glance towards the staircase, up to Amity's bedroom. "All of us."

Edric caught her stare, cringing at the memory of what happened only two hours ago.

"She'll come around."

He said with a false confidence. 

"She has to."

Emira half smiled at the reassurance, letting out a long sigh before standing up and excusing herself. "Today has been… yeah. I just need a few minutes alone."

Edric nodded, pushing the radio on the table towards her. "Take this with you to our room, I still have big plans for it~!"

He practically sang, prompting a snort from his counterpart.

"I will, I can't wait to hear it." 

She took the metal into her arms and disappearing into the stairway. Stopping halfway there, she glanced over her shoulder towards the lone person in the kitchen.

"I love you, too, by the way."

"I know."

They both smiled as Emira turned back around.

Edric listened to her footfalls until they faded, staring down the table. He couldn't remember the last time he ate alone.

The Blight boy wasn't a sentimental witch, at least he believed he wasn't. He couldn't stand hard conversations or letting himself feel too deeply. Which is why he relied on jokes, he supposed. What problem couldn't be solved with a random firefall and a fog of laughing gas? 

No, Edric Blight was not "soft." He was not one for feelings other than joy. And he was not one to dwell on sentimentality.

But looking down the rich mahogany of the dining area where he usually sat with his parents and sisters, Edric had never felt so alone. 

So small.

Small like the ceramic plate that laid untouched across from him. In Amity's spot at the table.

Amity.

Edric felt guilty about the whole spectacle, truly he did, but he didn't know what to do. His younger sister was so… different from him and Em. The Blights were social butterflies, intended and raised to manipulate everyone around into loving them. But whenever Edric was with the younger girl he felt somehow left out. Pushed away. He stumbled and choked on words, a feeling that was so foreign to him that it almost felt helpless. 

He couldn't reach her.

Edric had loved Amity before she had even come into the world. At only 2 years old he would sit, pressed against his mother's large belly and gurgle nonsense to his growing baby sister. 

At only 3 years old, Emira and himself would steal shining necklaces and trinkets from their mother, sneaking into the nursery to handle them in front of their sister to get her to giggle and reach out. He remembered how tight her little grip latched around his finger.

At only 5 years old, both twins were being chastised for allowing Amity to call them nicknames instead of correcting her. Neither of them minded, though, they enjoyed being called "Ebby" "Em-me-me." And Amity was ecstatic to receive a nickname of her own, jumping around and babbling "Mittens" at every turn. 

The memories made it feel like someone had lodged an icicle into his chest.

What happened? When had the hands that had gripped his fingers with such conviction become the hands that pushed him away?

Edric held his hands up with confusion as he felt water hit them. Looking up, there were no leaks. Another drop followed, sliding from his cheek to the table.

Oh. He hadn't realized he was crying.

Edric Blight was not good at hard conversations. He was not good with emotional talk.

But maybe there didn't need to be any. Maybe a sign was enough.

Crossing around the table, he picked up the plate of untouched dinner. The icicle in his chest dug deeper as he made his way to Amity's room, stalling for a moment outside the door. Grabbing a chair from the hallway, he set the plate on top of it and placed it in front of the bedroom door. Sighing, he backed away slightly before knocking three times and walking away.

A peace offering.

Making his way down the hallway, Edric took a sharp right, landing him in front of his shared room with Emira. Opening the door slowly, he caught sight of the girl on her bed, twiddling with something. Stepping in quietly, he made his way to her side, looking curiously at what she had laid out in front of her. It was a photo book from when the three siblings were just toddlers. A wet sniff resounded off the walls, and Edric sat down next to his crying sister, ghosting his hand over hers.

"Hey,"

He opened softly, turning the pages towards a photo that plagued them with embarrassment as kids. Sliding the picture of its plastic cover, Edric couldn't hold in a giggle. It was the three of them, Amity, Emira, and himself in the upstairs bathtub. Amity was 3 and the twins were 5 at the time. Amity had lathered soap on Em's head before styling her long hair upwards, giving her a misshapen beehive. In return the older girl had taken Amity's short hair and pushed it up between closed palms, giving her a mohawk. She had then turned around with a handful of bubbles, giving both her brother and herself bushy, soapy, white beards. The picture had been taken immediately afterwards, with all three of them looking ridiculous. Passing the photo to Emira, she snorted at it, laughing so hard her shoulders shook. She leaned against Edric with fingers still wrapped tightly on the edge of the picture.

"Thank you."

* * *

Doxia Alvarez was a simple man, with a simple family, a simple life, a simple thought process, and a simple job as a housekeeper for the well-off Blight family. 

So as he walked into the disaster of a kitchen and dining room that night, his only thought was to simply put everything in its rightful place. Summoning a broom and dustpan, he began sweeping up the mess of ceramic glass that scattered the floor- from the kitchen plates, no doubt. Humming to himself, the man twisted and twirled the broom in a well-practiced dance until he was sure no glass was left on the floor to be stepped upon. He quickly paced back to the pantry in a strange little walk that resembled almost a waddle, before returning with a rag and polish. Doxia sprayed down the table before wiping little circles into the edges, creeping along until his toe hit something solid.

"Oh?"

He questioned, bending down to check tje box that he had hit. It was a bland cardboard box that looked as though it had been in a fistfight and lost. It's edges were flayed down and wrinkled, with dents all over it. There was something large and gray inside, seemingly metallic. Doxia couldn't be sure what exactly it was or what it was doing there- he had never seen anything like it before. Checking it over, his hand brushed a small piece of paper at the side. Pulling off the purple scrap, the cyclops brought it up to his eye. 

_ To Mittens. _

Ah. It must have been for the youngest Blight's birthday. Doxia chuckled to himself. How silly of her to forget and leave it out here. Oh well.

Lifting the box over his shoulder, the cyclops made his way to the little pink bedroom upstairs. Cracking the door open, he peered inside. Amity was huddled in on herself, her knees pulled up to her chest and her lips slightly parted as she slept. Doxia gave a little smile at the sight, too toeing around clothes and toys on the ground before placing the radio in her closet and shutting the door and exiting.

Perfect. Everything in its place.

* * *

Amity startled awake, looking down at her lap. She had fallen asleep at her desk while studying her memory pictures for photo class. There were 6 that she was supposed to be writing about, but she had only finished the first three. Picking up the fourth, she turned it around and groaned. It was a picture of her, wearing a pointed pink hat and covered in real icing from her 10th birthday party. She hated that memory. She hated thinking about that night in general, much less having to wrote an entire stupid report on it. She could feel her ears heat up at just the thought of the yearbook teacher reading about how her siblings went out of their way to make her as embarrassed and miserable as possible on her big 1-0. 

Groaning, she pushed herself away from her desk before digging her black fingernails into her scalp in an attempt to stop herself from ripping her hair out. 

It's fine. Whatever. She still has 2 days to finish the project, she'd just have less time to spend after school with Lu-  _ her friends. _ Which was almost enough on its own to make the top student cry. Taking out her scroll, golden eyes flitted over to the time.

3:48 am. 

She should get to sleep. She knew that. She should be sleeping so she could be ready for tomorrow's abomination quiz. 

She knew she should, but the buzzing in her head.

Or the buzzing… outside of her head?

Dyed hair flipped around as Amity turned towards the source of the static. The witchling's heart sped up as she realized the noise was coming from behind the closed closet door. Her throat ran dry, and for the first time in her life- Amity was at a loss at what to do.

There was a moment, a single second, where the youngest Blight considered walking out of her door, running down the hall, and grabbing her siblings for help like she did when she was younger. But as soon as the thought crossed her mind it was pushed out by the memories the photo on her desk brought; and she pushed the urge away. 

She didn't need anyone, especially not  _ them _ . 

Attempting to rid herself of the drowsiness that came with early morning, Amity summoned an abomination to stand behind her before grabbing her training wand.

If all else failed, she could stab someone through the eye with it, she supposed.

Tip toeing to the door, she placed her painted fingers on the doorknob, making sure her abomination was following right behind her before throwing the door open.

"Aha!"

Amity screeched, pointing her wand into the closet.

The  _ empty  _ closet.

Stepping inside the side room, the 14 year old knelt down, pushing her hands around the cluttered floor in an attempt to find what was making the noise. Her middle finger scraped against something cold and hard, successfully breaking off part of the nail.

" _ Fuck _ !" 

Amity swore, trying to keep her voice down as she stuck her mutilated finger in her mouth to relieve some of the pain. Using the other hand to feel around the floor, she was much slower this time, finding the edge of the metal without hurting herself further. Pulling the shirts and discarded clothing up away from the object, she rolled her eyes and huffed.

Of course it was that...noise machine thing Ed and Em had used to ruin her birthday.

God, she didn't even realize that thing still worked. Of course it would make a reappearance just to bite her in the ass. 

Now, how did she turn this thing off?

The first knob she saw resembled a dial. Pressing her hand against it, she turned the button to the right in an attempt to silence the machine. Instead it just gave out a loud screeching sound before bubbling away into bits of static. Trying her luck once again, Amity continued twisting to the right, but instead of the machine shutting down and shutting up, the noise slowly faded into something somewhat coherent.

"-elos. Can I say that on air? I feel like I can't say that publicly."

The youngest Blight gasped, confusion making her eyebrows curl inwards. It… broadcasted...strangers? Why? 

And why did the person on the other end feel so familiar?

Letting her hands fall slowly to her side's, Amity no longer had any interest in turning the contraption off. Instead she leaned against the door frame, resting her cheek on a patch of the wall. 

"Anyways moving on from me definitely  _ not _ saying 'fuck Belos' on a public airline-"

Amity gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth. She knew she shouldn't think something like that was funny- it was disrespectful at best, for Titan's sake- but she couldn't help herself from giggling at the absurdity and bluntness of it all. Finding the volume, she lowered it significantly before tuning back in.

"-this crusty old man has one thing right. And that's his whole little gig about 'making sacrifices' or whatever corny holier-than-thou nonsense he adds to make it sound deeper. And I know this because I am damn good at making sacrifices."

The witchling was familiar with the phrase the host was referring to, and she was sure they were about to go into some preaching about how much charity work and hard work they put into life. She nodded along by habit, close to almost turning the volume down all the way and going back to sleep. 

"And I know I am damn good at making sacrifices every single day. Miss Topper's magic soups? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about- unless you don't, because unfortunately, she is incredibly underrated. Might be because the soup makes you pee a little bit of blood. But I eat there every single day. On a similar note, I've also just about stained my toilet bowl red. But you know what that is? Sacrifice. I'm practically a saint at this point."

Whatever Amity had thought was going to be said, whatever preconceptions she had in her mind about basic decency on public air- well, all of those had been thrown out the window the second she processed what had just been said. Falling back against the door, the green haired girl pressed a fist to her mouth in an attempt to quell the oncoming spurts of hard laughter that was emanating from her throat. Her body shook from the doubling laughter that turned into hiccups, forcing her shoulders up and down and her eyes to water. 

Catching her composure before -Titan forbid- someone  _ found _ her, Amity gripped the radio. She stumbled a bit as she forced it out of the closet, taking it from the dark and putting the machine on her bedside table instead. Getting under the blankets, she thought that this was  _ exactly _ what she needed. Who didn't year for a little distraction at times? 

"Thank you for tuning into channel 666.6. I'm your humble host- Luzura Nicewitch! Here for the zombies, the repressed gays, the underpaid and overworked, the insomniacs, and whatever idiots are listening to their radio at 4am. Unfortunately, that's my time and I must leave. Not because I'm getting timed or charged or anything like that, I just have a test in the morning. 

And with that, goodnight one and all. I hope someone's out there."

There was a small clicking noise, followed by silence. The Blight girl mourned the loss of the voice beside her, but reasoned it was probably for her own good. It was already 5am and she had to be up in two hours.

As she turned on her side, propping her leg up and pressing her arm underneath her pillow in the way that she had slept since she outgrew her crib, her thoughts couldn't help but turn to the radio show host and their quirky sense of humor. 

_ I wonder who they are. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya ! Sorry this chapter took me almost a month to finish, it was very,,, emotionally taxing. The good thing is I can practically feel myself getting better at writing so even if this project of a fic flops it will still help me learn <3
> 
> I have big love for everyone who comments and also people who suggest what they want to see in the future I have nothing planned out I am simply free balling life xox

**Author's Note:**

> I accept all critisms and ideas for future chapters 💘 please make sure to feed my self esteem a comment or I might die
> 
> My Tumblr/Instagram are both @liesminelli if you ever wanna reach out !


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